Extension arm



Jan. 20, 1959 w. R. YOAKLEY, JR 2,869,914

EXTENSION ARM Filed July 10, 1956 2 Sheets-Sheet l Jan. 20, 1959 w. vYOAKLEY', JR

EXTENSION ARM 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Jul 10, 1956 United Sttes Pate aEXTENSION ARM William R. Yoakley, .lr., Inglewood, Calif.

Application July 10, 1956, Serial No. 597,035

3 Claims. (Cl. 294-22) The present invention relates to extension armsfor grasping articles which would otherwise be out of convenient reach.

Extension arms in general are known and have found general use in retailgrocery stores for removing packages and the like from high shelves. Anassembly of this general type usually comprises an elongated handle witha pair of grasping tongs mounted at one end. The handle also has somesort of actuator mounted at its other end, with a control rod running upits side from the actuator to the tongs. Most of the prior artassemblies have been extremely crude in their construction, and thesehave had little appeal or popularity outside of a few limited fieldssuch as the one mentioned above.

There is, however, a pressing need around the horn and in otherinstances for extension arms that are'well constructed and easy tooperate. For example, the housewife is continually reaching forrelatively inaccessible articles. Moreover, she is continually bendingto pick up toys and other articles from the floor. An important objectof the present invention is to provide an improved and unique extensionarm that is extremely simple, foolproof and convenient to operate.Moreover, the improved extension arm of the invention is most capableand efiicient in grasping extraneous objects, thus rendering iteminently suited for use around the home and in other generalapplications.

A particular feature of the invention is the provision of a springbiased construction for the extension arm so that its tongs are normallyspring biased to an open condition. This enables the assembly to be usedwith a convenient snap action. That is, when an object is to be grasped,an actuator on the device is gripped so as to move the tongs inwardlyagainst the spring bias. The object may then be released, merely byrelaxing the grip on the actuator. This spring biased feature of theassembly of the invention adds materially to the ease and quicknesswithwhich many objects can be picked up and later released by theextension arm of the invention. 7

A further feature of the improved the present invention is the fact thatit is constructed of relatively few component parts. In addition, itscomponents are readily available and are relatively in; expensive.'These factors contribute to enable the ex: tension arm of the inventionto be manufacturedat a elativery low cost. It follows, therefore, thatthe assemblies can be sold at a low price.

Another feature contributing to the relatively low manufacturingcost ofthe improved extension arm of the invention is the ease with which thearm can be assembled. In a manner to be described, all the majorcomponents of the extension arm can be preassembled without'therequirement for a multiplicity. of riveting or other fasteningoperations. The preassambled components may then be slipped into ahollow tubular means.

extension arm of I 2,869,914 Patented J an. '20, 1959 structure, andthey are supported within the structure by an exceedingly simplefastening The components are so interrelated that the handle itselfserves to retain them in an assembled condition. That is, the variousmajor components of the assembly are held together without riveting orthe like, and the arrangement is such that these components cannotbecome disengaged with one another once they are in place within thehandle. I

The various features and advantages of the invention will be understoodfrom the following detailed description considered with the accompanyingdrawings.

In the drawings, which are to be regarded as merely illustrative Figure1 is a perspective view on a somewhat reduced scale of the improvedextension arm of the invention, showing the arm grasped in the hand ofan operator and particularly illustrating the linkage between a pair ofpivotally mounted tongs of the assembly and an actuating pull rod forthe tongs;

Figure 2 is a fragmentary view, partly in section, of the tong end ofthe extension arm illustrating the linkage between the tongs and thepull rod, the solid lines in this figure showing the tongs in a closedor actuated position and the broken lines showing the tongs in theirspring biased open position;

Figure 3 is a fragmentary view, substantially along the line 3+3 ofFigure 2, partly in section, of the tong handle handle I end of theextension arm, with the tongs in their springbiased open condition andillustrating particularly a combined retainer, guide and brace for theactuating mechanism of the extension arm;

Figure 4 is a fragmentary view, partly in section, of the actuator endof the extension arm and illustrating particularly the linkage betweenthe actuator and the pull rod;

Figure 5 is a fragmentary view of the actuator end of the armsubstantially on the line 5-5 of Figure 4; and

Figure 6 is a diagram showing the operating components of the extensionarm in the process of being assembled, and illustrating how thesecomponents may be preassembled and then slipped into the tubular handleportion of the extension arm.

With particular reference now to the accompanying drawings,.it will beseen that the improved extension arm of the invention includes a mainbody 10. This body is in the form of a hollow tubular handle composed,for example, 24 gauge steel tubing. Moreover, the handle may have aconvenient length of, for example, two feet. The handle has a slottedend portion 10a. A pair of tongs 12 and 14 are pivotally mounted in thisslotted end portion. These tongs, for

example, may be composed of steel strips, these strips I being bent tothe illustrated configuration to facilitate the grasping properties ofthe tongs. The tongs themselves are covered by suitable gripping tubes16, 18 composed of any appropriate plastic or rubber material.

Thev tongs.12 and 14 are mounted in a crossed manner to have theirgrasping portions extending from diametrically opposite sides of theslotted end portion 10a of the handle 10. The tongs also have respectiveend portions which extend in the opposite direction to their respectivegrasping portions through the slotted end portion 10a.

A rivet 2ll extends through the crossover point of the tongs and throughthe end portion 10a of the handle.

This rivet serves as a transverse pivot pin to mount the to theextremity of the end portion. The use of slots such as the slots 22, 24facilitates the fabrication of the extension arm. in a manner to bedescribed. The rivet is, for example, a /s X%" rivet, and it is spacedfrom the sides of the handle by a pair of coaxial spacers 26, 28 (Figure3) These spacers may'conveniently have 2. diameter and a length.

A sway brace and spring retainer 34) is supported by the rivet 2t), andthe brace extends longitudinally down the interior of the handle it fromthat rivet. The brace has an apertured bent-over end portion 39a re motefrom the rivet pin 24 and this end portion extends across the interiorof the handle 10. The brace 3%? also has a slot 36!) formed therein, andthis slot extends longitudinally along the brace.

A pull rod 32 extends up the interior of the tubular handle 10. Thispull rod has a bent-over end portion 32a at its upper extremity, and thepull rod extends through the apertured end portion 300: of the brace 36with its bent-over end portion extending into the longitui;

dinal slot 3tlb in the brace to be slidably guided in that slot.

A pair of links 34 and 36 are pivotally mounted by respective rivets 38,to the ends of the tongs 12 and 14. The rivets 38 and 46 may, forexample, be A; x fli rivets. The ends of the links 34 and 36 remote fromthe rivets 33 and 4% are pivotally mounted on the bent-over end portion3222 of the pull rod 32. These links are interposed between the pull rod32 and the brace 3% so that they may be retained on the end portion 32aof the pull rod.

A resilient coil spring 42 is mounted coaxially on the pull rod 32between its bent-over end portion 32a and the bent-over end portion 36aof the brace. A spring reraining washer 44 is crimped to the pull rod32, and this washer urges the spring against the end portion Siia of thebrace. This causes the pull rod to be normally biased towards the tongend of the handle it The tong 12 and 14 are therefore normally,spring-biased and held in their open position shown by the broken linesof Figure 2.

An external actuating lever St) is provided at the end of the handle it)remote from the tongs. A bracket 52 is spot welded or otherwise securedto the external surface of the handle, and one end of the actuatinglever is pivoted to this bracket by means, for example, of a /8" rivet54. A channel-shaped actuating bar 56 has one end pivoted to anintermediate point on the lever 50 by means, for example, of a /8" rivet58. The actuating bar 56 extends into the interior of the handle ltlthrough an appropriate slot in the handle, and the bar extend away fromthe tong end of the handle towards its other extremity.

The pull rod 32 has a bent-over end portion 32b at its extremity remotefrom the bent-over end portion 32a. This bent-over portion 32b of thepull rod extends through apertures in the end of the actuating bar 56remote from the lever 50. A disc-like roller 62 is rotatably'mounted onthe bent-over end portion 32b, and the roller is cmbraced and held onthis portion by the sidesof the channel-like actuating bar 56. This ismost clearly shown in Figure 5. A hand grip 64 is slipped over theactuator nd of the handle it This hand grip may be composed of rubber orof any suitable plastic.

The extension arm may be gripped at the hand grip 64 a shown inFigure 1. As long asthe grip on the lever 50 is relaxed, the spring 42biases the tongs 12, 14 to their open position (as shown by the brokenlines of Figure 2). However, when the grip is tightened, the roller 62is rolled along the internal surface of the handle 10' away from thetong end and towards the other extremity of the handle. This pulls thepull rod 32 longitudinally against the bias of the spring 42 and causesthe tongs to assume their closed position. A convenient snap action canbe achieved with this construction. That is,-

i the tongs 12 and 14' can be closed over an object merely by tighteningthe grip on the lever 5t and the object can be later released merely byrelaxing the grip.

A resilient metallic ring is inserted in a hole in the end of the handgrip 64. This ring serves as a means for hanging the arm to facilitatestoring.

As shown in Figure 6, the major components of the extension arm aresusceptible to convenient preassembly. This, as previously noted, aids'the ease and simplicity with which the unit can be assembled.

in the preassernbly the tongs 12, 14 and the brace 30 are supported onthe rivet 20 between the spacers 26, 28. The pull rod 32 is hookedthrough the apertured bent-over end portion 30a of the brace, the spring42 is set in pla e, and the retaining washer 44 is crimped to the pullrod. The bent-over end 32a of the pull rod may then be passed throughthe apertured ends of the links 34 and 36, so that the preassemblyassumes the illustrated assembled condition.

The bracket 52 is welded to the handle 10, and the lever 50 is pivotallymounted on the bracket. The actuating bar 56, together with the roller62, are hung on the lower bent-over end portion 32b of the pull rod 32.The preassembled components are then slipped down into the hollowtubular handle 10, and the actuating bar 56 is turned out through theaperture 60. The end of the actuating bar is then pivoted to the lever50 by the rivet 58.

The fact that the rivet 20 is held in the slots 22, 24 enables it to beincorporated into the preassembly to hold the preassembled componentstogether. Then, as these components are slid into place, the rivet 20 ispassed into the slots 22 and 24, and it is then firmly riveted to thehandle 10.

It should be noted that the tubular handle itself holds all thepreassembled components together as soon as they are slipped into place.That is, the pull rod 32 is held with its bent-over end portion 32aextending into the slot 3% in the brace 30 to hold the links 34 and 36in place. Also, the actuating bar 56 is retained by the handle on theend portion 32b of the pull rod to hold the roller 62 in place. Thisassures that none of the preassembled components can ever becomedisassembled during the fabrication process and thereby interrupt theprocess and cause work stoppages. It also obviates the need for amultiplicity of rivets and fastening operations for the preassembly.

The invention provides, therefore, a new and improved extension arm.This arm is sturdy and rugged in its construction, yet it usesrelatively few components and maybe assembled in a simple and expedientmanner. In addition, the assembly is simple and convenient to operate,audit is eminently suited in accomplishing its intended purposes.

Although aparticular embodiment of the invention has been shown anddescribed, it is to be understood that the invention is not to belimited to that embodiment for it is susceptible to changes in form anddetail within the scope of the appendedclaims.

I'claim:

1. Anextension arm including: an elongated hollow tubular handle havinga slotted end portion; a pair of crossed tongs having'respectivegrasping portions extending from diametricallyopposite sides of saidslotted end portion, and said tongs having respective end portionsextending in the opposite direction to said grasping portions throughsaid slotted end portion; a transverse pivot pin extending through thecross-over point of said tongs and through said handle pivotally tomount said tongs at the slotted end of said handle; a brace supported insaid handle by said pivot pin and extending longitudinally along theinterior of said handle from said pin, said brace having alongitudinal-slot therein and having an apertured bent-over .endportionremote from said pin extending across the interior of said handle; apull rod extending along the interior of said handle and through theaperture in the end portion of said brace, said pull rod having abent-over end portion extending into the longitudinal slot in saidbrace; linkage means connected between the bent-over end portion of saidpull rod and said end portions of said tongs to pivot said tongs aboutsaid pin upon longitudinal motion of said pull rod in said handle; aresilient coil spring surrounding said pull rod between the bent-overend portion thereof and the bentover end portion of said brace; aretainer for said spring mounted on said pull rod to enable said springto bias said pull rod in the direction of the slotted end portion of thehandle; an actuating lever pivotally mounted on the external surface ofsaid handle at the end of said handle remote from said tongs; adisc-like roller; and an actuating bar coupling said lever to saidroller; said pull rod having a second bent-over end portion extendingthrough said actuating bar and through said roller, so that actuation ofsaid lever causes said actuating bar to move said roller along theinternal surface of the handle in a direction to pull said pull rodagainst the bias action of said coil spring.

2. An extension arm including: an elongated hollow tubular handle havinga slotted end portion; a pair of crossed tongs having respectivegrasping portions extending from diametrically opposite sides of saidslotted end portion, and said tongs having respective end portionsextending in the opposite direction to said grasping portions throughsaid slotted end portion of said handle; a transverse pivot pinextending through the cross-over point of said tongs and through saidend portion of said handle pivotally to mount said tongs at the slottedend of said handle; a brace supported in said handle by said pivot pinand extending longitudinally along the interior of said handle from saidpin, said brace having a longitudinal slot therein and having anaperture bent-over end portion remote from said pin extending across theinterior of said handle; a pull rod extending along the interior of saidhandle and through the aperture in the end portion of said brace, saidpull rod having a bentover end portion extending into the longitudinalslot in said brace; a pair of links pivotally mounted on said bent-overend portion of said pull rod and on the respective extremities of saidend portions of said tongs; said links being interposed on saidbent-over end portion of said pull rod between said pull rod and saidbrace; a resilient coil spring surrounding said pull rod between thebent-over end portion thereof and said bent-over end portion of saidbrace; a disc-like retainer for said spring mounted on said pull rod tourge said spring against the bent-over end portion of said brace andcause said spring to bias said pull rod towards said slotted end portionof said handle; an actuating lever pivotally mounted on the externalsurface of said handle at the end of said handle remote from said tongs;a disc-like roller; and an actuating bar coupling said lever to saidroller; said pull rod having a second bent-over end portion extendingthrough said actuating bar and through said roller, so that actuation ofsaid lever causes said actuating bar to move said roller along theinternal surface of the handle in a direction to pull said pull rodagainst the bias action of said coil spring.

3. An extension arm including: an elongated hollow tubular handle havinga first end portion; a pair of crossed tongs having respective graspingportions extending from diametrically opposite sides of the first endportion of said handle, said tongs having respective end portionsextending in the opposite directions to the corresponding graspingportions; a transverse pivot pin extending through the cross-over pointof the tongs and through the end portion of the handle to pivotallymount the tongs on the end portion of the handle; a brace supported inthe handle by the pivot pin and extending longitudinally along theinterior of the handle from the pivot pin, said brace having alongitudinal slot therein and having an apertured end portion extendingacross the interior of the handle; a pull rod extending along theinterior of the handle and having a first end portion extending throughthe apertured end portion of the brace, the first end portion of thepull rod also extending into the longitudinal slot in the brace; linkagemeans connected between the first end portion of the pull rod and therespective end portions of the tongs to pivot the tongs about the pivotpin upon longitudinal movement of the pull rod in the handle; aresilient coil spring surrounding the first end portion of the pull rodand engaging said end portion of the brace; an actuating lever pivotallymounted on the external surface of said handle at a position remote fromthe first end portion of the handle; and linkage means coupling saidactuating lever to said pull rod, so that actuation of the lever causessaid linkage means to move the pull rod in a direction to pull said pullrod against the bias action of said resilient coil spring.

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